The painting I would like to discuss is not necessarily my favorite painting, but the painting that spoke to me the most. William Johnson’s Chain Gang (painted around 1939) really spoke to me because it just shows how the African Americans felt back when they were enslaved.
To me this painting represents how replaceable the African Americans felt. If you glance at it you can immediately see that it is three men in jail suits, but if you look closer you can see that the bodies are misshapen. The jail suits and the shackles represent the obvious of these men were prisoners of the white men, but the bodies are really what have the biggest story to tell. The two men look like the are attached, and not really two individuals, and the other man has no body, just legs, arms and a head. This to me really shows that they didn’t feel like individuals. The two men that look like the are attached, that represents how they lost their individuality and started becoming all alike because they were never allowed to be individuals. The man who has no torso shows how the African Americans felt about their worth, it shows that there was no need for a body (where the heart is) just working legs, arms, and a head to keep them going.
This all ties in with the Harlem Renaissance because that was when the African Americans started being creative. William Johnson showed his creativity by taking what he grew up around in South Carolina, and putting his outlook on slavery onto canvas. If looked at closely it really does show how the African Americans were treated and how it made them feel during these times.
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I would have to agree that while this isn’t the most beautiful piece of art, it is emotive. I like that you pointed out that one of the men doesn’t even have his own body, but rather just a head, arms, and legs. It does convey the message that these men are not individuals, but just working bodies. I also think it is interesting that one of the men’s eyes are closed, another’s are partially open, and the middle man has them fully open. I wonder if that is supposed to symbolize something? I think you did a good job relating this piece to the Harlem Renaissance.
I don’t agree that the Harlem Renaissance was a period of time when African-Americans start becoming creative, they had actually many folk artists, musicians, and writers way before that time. The Harlem Renaissance occurred at the same time the WPA was paying artists during the Depression to do work to reflect America, and America, particularly whites were becoming enamored with the art and music of the African-Americans in the Harlem area of New York. The Northerners were much more liberal than the Southerners and had more of a notion to uplift that segment of society and appreciate their creative contributions to our country. The Whites then flocked to Harlem to enjoy jazz, the dance clubs and other exiting styles of the African-American culture. I probably should have noted this as well in my blog.
I do like your analysis of people looking the same, like they were not individual humans. I noted that same thing in the artwork of Jacob Lawrence. The people were just depicted as hard laborers, not individuals. Laborers or prisoners, that’s probably the concept of their choices during that era. Good post!